Communications equipment pushes Canada wholesale trade up in Nov

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian wholesale trade grew by 0.7 percent in November from October, pushed higher by healthy sales of computer and communications equipment, Statistics Canada said on Monday.

The increase was greater than the 0.5 percent advance forecast by market operators. Statscan cut October's month-on-month growth to 0.8 percent from an initial 0.9 percent.

Five of the seven sub-sectors, accounting for about two-thirds of wholesale sales, posted increases. In volume terms, sales were up by 0.5 percent.

The computer and communications equipment and supplies industry rose by 6.3 percent, which coincided with a 14.2 percent increase in imports of communications and audio and video equipment.

A Statscan analyst declined to specify which products were responsible for the 14.2 percent spike, citing commercial confidentiality. Apple released its iPad mini tablet computer in November.

Sales in the motor vehicles and parts subsector grew for the second month in a row, advancing by 1.5 percent. Most of the national increase in wholesale sales in November occurred in Ontario, Canada's most populous province.